martakartus' Workbook

I'm Marta, 20 and I'm currently at the Universitat de Barcelona studying for my Biotechnology degree. I found about these workbooks just a few days ago and thought it was high time I started one myself to keep my motivation and progress up.

Reality Checks:
- Nose blocking
- Counting fingers
- Looking at clocks
- Asking myself questions

Dream Signs:
Although my dream signs change over time and they're not too well defined at the moment, the current ones would be:
- Darkness (most of my dreams seem to take place at night)
- My boyfriend
- Anything university-related (lessons, classmates...)
- Being chased after and not being able to run (this dream sign was stronger a few months ago, but it still appears every now and then)

Short-Term Goals:
- Improve daily awareness
- Have a lucid dream soon (the last one was half a year ago)
- Find an induction technique which works well for me
- Have lucids at least once a month

Long-Term Goals:
- Increase my frequence of lucid dreams
- Increase the length of the dreams
- Gain control over the dreams

Lucid/Dream Recall History:
When I was little, I remember one day having told my parents I had realised I was dreaming within a dream. They didn't believe me. I don't know if I experienced that any other time back then, but I didn't know what lucid dreaming was.

I found out about it almost a year ago. I spent a couple of weeks gathering information about it until I started my dream journal. My first aim was to improve my recall, which wasn't so bad originally, so it wasn't difficult. A month into it (at the start of August), while I was only focusing on dream recall, I had a lucid one night. Not knowing what to do, I woke up almost immediately.

I went on focusing mostly on recall until late August, when I lost interest in it. I was going out at nights a lot and had a shitty sleep schedule, so I didn't bother, I have to admit.

It wasn't until late October that I had another lucid. At that time I wasn't even keeping my dream journal, so it was super random. At mid December I decided I would regain the recall I had lost and I would get back down to lucid dreaming. Around a month ago I started reality checking regularly and I've been basically waiting for a random DILD, but I want to try other less random techniques and find the one I feel most comfortable with.

As for my sleep pattern, it's quite regular now. On weekdays I go to bed and wake up at around the same time and I try to sleep between 7 to 8 hours each night. It's only on weekends that I usually spend the whole Saturday night out and I have bad sleep that day.

Current Technique:
Until now, I've only been into DILDs, but I've heard many people say DEILD is quite an easy technique. I've made a couple of attempts of DEILD before which have been unsuccessful, but I've received some helpful advice and I'm ready to try them again.

Last night I tried to DEILD again. I set the first alarm at 5 am and it lasted for 10 seconds. There were three snoozes afterwards, each one 30 minutes apart from the other.

When I was awakened by the alarm, I moved a little but managed to remember to stay still quite easily. I assumed I still had chances. Then I felt the same thing I had felt a couple of weeks ago, when I tried it upon waking at 5.30 am: I felt my body was really heavy and uncomfortable and I didn't feel sleepy at all. Despite this, I went on with my try. Ten minutes into it I was still unable to sleep and I started to be worried that the next snooze would go off and I would still be awake, so I thought I should switch the alarm off and just sleep, I'd try again another day. I got my phone to find it was 6.10 am, so I had slept through the first two alarms.

I found it a bit hard to sleep after this, but I finally fell asleep. I'll try again tomorrow or in a couple of days.

After months of not having had any lucids at all, this morning I've had a lucid false awakening, but I've got scared of the hallucinations and I've snapped out of it. Here's the DJ entry: Strange lucid false awakening - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Damned insomnia.

Since both tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I'll have to wake up early in the morning, I chose to give another go at DEILDing this last night. I had set the first alarm at 5 am. Well, turns out the two exams I have these next two days had me really nervous and I stayed awake until 2 am. Trying to take some pressure off myself and have good sleep, I cancelled the alarms. So well, no luck for me today.

It's been a couple of busy days, but tonight I noticed what I believe I will be able to call a dream sign soon. She has appeared in a few dreams during the last month or so. It's a girl who I had been very close friends with until just a year ago, when we lost contact because she only had time for her boyfriend. She got angry with me because some months passed and I started hanging out with other people and now she doesn't even say hi if we bump into each other on the street. I say this because I saw her the other day. In the dream I had tonight, I was in the same spot as I was the day I was her, only she was in our group. I thought to myself "okay, this is weird, we haven't talked in ages, but I guess she's just saying hello". My alarm clock went off soon after this, and I didn't become lucid. I believe I'm on the right track, though.

This morning I've attempted a WILD and despite the fact that I failed, it's the closest I've been to success compared to the few other attempts of it I've done. Just a little more practice and I'll do it well.

Oh, SO close... - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Tonight I tried a new technique that I read about some days ago: SSLD, combined with a WBTB (which I'd never done). Success at the first attempt, and I refuse to believe it was a coincidence. Turns out this has been by far the most detailed and vivid dream I've ever had. It was so vivid that I felt strange upon waking. I hadn't had a proper lucid in months and I'm ecstatic. I recommend this two techniques combined for anyone having a hard time attaining lucidity :D

Amused by the vividness - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

That's awesome Marta! Congrats on your super vivid ld! :happy: SSILD + WBTB is indeed a very good induction combo! :)

After the super vivid lucid I had less than a week ago, I've had a bad week. Not only for lucid dreaming, but for dreaming in general. The night after the lucid, I was still half asleep in the morning when I stretched my body and hurt my neck pretty bad. The muscle pain has lasted until now, although thankfully today it's almost gone. During these days, my dream recall has decreased. Although it's nothing to get too worried about really, I've just had some restless nights.

Anyway, now that I'll be better I'll try again the WBTB and SSILD. Hopefully I'll get lucid again, but if not, I sure won't get disappointed. I'm very motivated now. :content:

Good luck Marta ! May truly amazin LDs come to you ASAP :)

Thanks! I hope so :armflap:

No luck today with WBTB and SSILD, but I've had better recall than these last few days. Also, the majority of the dreams were sex-related, which is always fun :cheeky:

Yesterday night I set an alarm at 3.30 am to do a WILD. I thought I needn't get up to wake myself up a bit and that this way I would enter the dream state faster. Big mistake. I started off well but fell asleep quickly. Despite this, I had a dream in which I was talking to my dad about lucid dreaming, which is something I've never done, so it's a shame I didn't realise it.

And yesterday I dreamt again of that girl I'm not friends with anymore. I was very suspicious as to why she was there, and unlike previous dreams about her, in this one she was speaking to me as if we were the best of friends. It's a too obvious dream sign, I can't let it slip away.

With these it's been two days in a row of having "almost lucid" dreams, which is good.

I had quite bad recall today, I don't really know why. Well, I guess it may have to do with the fact that I had to wake up really early. However, I'm a morning person and I don't normally struggle with this (my alarm is set at 5.40 am and I tend to wake up before it goes off), but today I could only recall small fragments, like people or places but not actual action, and it's weird because when I woke up I knew I had woken from quite a cool dream. Anyway, guess this happens sometimes.

To make up for it, today I've been quite aware during the day. Well, honestly, I was more lucid in the morning, while in class or travelling from the uni to my house, but once I started studying in the afternoon, it was harder to snap myself aware often. It's always easier to be observant in places you're not so familiar with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by martakartus

Yesterday night I set an alarm at 3.30 am to do a WILD. I thought I needn't get up to wake myself up a bit and that this way I would enter the dream state faster. Big mistake. I started off well but fell asleep quickly. Despite this, I had a dream in which I was talking to my dad about lucid dreaming, which is something I've never done, so it's a shame I didn't realise it.

And yesterday I dreamt again of that girl I'm not friends with anymore. I was very suspicious as to why she was there, and unlike previous dreams about her, in this one she was speaking to me as if we were the best of friends. It's a too obvious dream sign, I can't let it slip away.

With these it's been two days in a row of having "almost lucid" dreams, which is good.

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Dreaming *about* lucidity is a great sign that it is very close indeed. I had about 3-4 "dream about lucidity" dreams just before my first LD.

I tried another WILD last night. Again, the alarm was set at 3.30 am, I had gone to sleep at midnight. This time, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom just to wake myself up a little to make it through the WILD. I was awake for like 5-10 min, at most. Then, I went back to bed and started with the "stop, drop and roll" technique. Once lying on my side, I started feeling the strongest urge to scratch my thumb. Knowing I had to ignore the itch, I kept telling myself it was just a roll-over signal, it would cease in no time and I would enter paralysis. The itching kept growing stronger and it got to a point in which I couldn't stand it anymore and scratched my thumb against my body. It persisted. I then scratched it with my other hand, and I even changed my body position. I was starting to feel groggy at that point and thought it was worthless that I tried to start the process over again because I would probably fall asleep. I said to hell with it and went to sleep normally :roll:

Marta, I wonder if you have you considered moving the wbtb a bit forward in time - 3.5 hrs of sleep may not give your body/mind enough time to regenerate and be ready for wild?

Yeah, I'm playing around with the amount of sleep I give myself before the WBTB to find the perfect time. Once that I tried it later (I think it was like 5 am or something) I found I was too awake to fall asleep. I also heard that 3 am was "optimum brain chemistry" for a WILD, so I am trying to find a middle point. How much do you sleep before a WILD?

Well, I guess everyone's different. Only 3.5 hrs is certainly not enough for me :P - I time my wbtbs 4.5 to 5.5 hrs depending on the amount sleep time available. Not sure about the 3 am optimum brain chemistry timing - do they say what bed time corresponds to this?

Wish you luck in finding your optimal spot! :)

Yeah, that's the problem, they didn't mention bed time... I'll take your advice for the timing, to make a start. How much more do you sleep after the wbtb? Do you get past the 8h?

Thanks for the advice :)

In optimal circumstances I get 1.5 -2.5 hrs of sleep after wbtb, though they have been cases with insomnia and less sleep. With regards to that I find ssild to be quite helpful to make me fall asleep easier. :offtobed:

For the first time in several months, today I woke up with no dream recall. Even though it's Saturday, my sister had to wake up early, so she had set an alarm. We sleep in the same room and I'm a light sleeper, the smallest sound wakes me up, while she sleeps through everything. Needless to say, when her alarm went off, I woke up with a start, and it took her forever to dismiss it, leaving me wide awake and with a pounding heart. This, plus the fact that yesterday I went to bed late and a bit tipsy after having dinner with friends, resulted in no dream recall.

Three days a week she wakes up before me, and when her alarm wakes me up I always see my dream recall decrease quite a lot. I think I'll get used to setting an alarm for me 5 or 10 minutes before hers.

Last night, I decided I'd try FILD. I had heard of it and I found it quite interesting. I must admit I was a bit skeptical about it, since apparently the transition from the waking body to the dream body is clean, I mean, without any hypnagogic state or anything. Well, for this, I set an alarm at 4.30 am, after 5h of sleep. When I heard the alarm I quickly remembered my intention (the ringtone for the regular alarm is different than that I use for WBTBs and other midnight techniques, so I can tell one from the other easily). I stood still for a few seconds and then gently rolled over to switch the alarm off. I remembered a dream, but I didn't bother writing it down because I didn't want the lights to wake me up. I lay still for a few minutes, trying to relax as much as possible, and then started with the fingers. I don't know if I lost consciousness at any point, but a short while afterwards I found myself still doing the fingers thing. The whole thing had been confusing, so I thought I must be in a FA. I did the nose pinch and it failed. I did it again just to be sure, because I didn't know what other RCs to do in the dark. It failed again. I thought well, I'll go to sleep and try again if I wake up again.

I woke up naturally a while afterwards. I was feeling very sleepy and the memories of this awakening are quite blurry, I just know it was very brief, but I remember I thought of trying the FILD again. I started and then... blank.

Next thing I know, I'm awoken by the regular alarm. I had set it to prevent my sister's to wake me up with a start. I was quite disappointed because I was quite sure I had no memory from any dream, so I rolled over and thought how much the last night's loss of sleep had affected my recall. Just as I was thinking that, I started remembering a dream. I wrote it down before it could go away and I was flooded by the memories of two more dreams. It's funny when this happens, it is becoming the norm for me to remember morning dreams once I start waking myself up, and sometimes, even after getting out of bed.

Man, worst night ever. I went to bed at a reasonable time, 11.20 pm, but had what I'm pretty sure has been my worst ever insomnia episode. I started off thinking I wouldn't have much trouble sleeping, only to find myself half an hour afterwards turning and tossing in bed. And then an hour passed. And two hours passed. I realised I was really hot so I removed a blanket. The cool sensation made me think I would finally fall asleep, but it was short-lived. I got up, went to the bathroom and then did a "stop, drop and roll" relaxation technique. Again, no luck. At 2 am I started noticing what I assumed was period ache. Great, I thought, that's the last thing I needed. I got up and took an over-the-counter painkiller pill. With an empty stomach, yes, but I was pretty desperate at that point. At 2.30 am I thought it'd be a good idea to write down what was happening, in an attempt to get it out of my mind. My alarm would go off at 5.45 am, so I didn't have much time left anyway, it didn't really make a difference.

It proved effective. Thank heavens. Before I know it, I'm woken up by the sound of the alarm. Needless to say, no dream recall whatsoever. I guess I've barely hit REM today. This will probably cause me to have more REM tomorrow, but I'll have to wake up this early the day after tomorrow as well. I just hope I won't have so much trouble sleeping, but I don't think it'll be the case. I'll make it exhausted to the end of the day today.

Ouch yeah nights like that suck. Things to try: temperature control, cool is better for sleeping. Turn off your mind / silence your inner voice: replace your thoughts with soothing ones, like "I'm so very relaxed, I'm in a wonderful place, so happy..." and so on. At all costs do not stress about not sleeping as that starts a vicious cycle of anxiety leading to insomnia leading to anxiety and round and round...
If you can, don't turn so much, at least, not unless you're really uncomfortable, as moving resets the sleep process a little.
If I'm really feeling wired and fully awake at bed time, something like melatonin or valerian helps. Another thing is don't go to bed if you're not tired. Also, if it takes more than about 10-20 minutes to fall asleep, get out of bed and sit quietly until you start to feel sleepy. There are lots of good "how to get to sleep" suggestions on th Internet, these are but a few....

Thanks for the advice! It's weird because I was feeling sleepy when I went to bed, but I'm a full-time overthinker and I get easily stressed, more now that my final exams are drawing near, and this shows mostly at night, because I'm quite prone to insomnia. I try to avoid caffein when I know I'm like this, and take sleeping pills if I foresee a restless night, but I don't take them when I have to wake up early, since they make me feel sleepy all day.

As for the turning, I was fully aware I shouldn't have moved so much, it's just that for some reason I didn't feel comfortable. :blue:

I'll try some other relaxation techniques next time :) I'll also make some research of my own.

Besides, I'm getting into meditation to learn to quiet my mind and rid myself of racing thoughts, but it's no easy task...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by martakartus

Thanks for the advice! It's weird because I was feeling sleepy when I went to bed, but I'm a full-time overthinker and I get easily stressed, more now that my final exams are drawing near, and this shows mostly at night, because I'm quite prone to insomnia. I try to avoid caffein when I know I'm like this, and take sleeping pills if I foresee a restless night, but I don't take them when I have to wake up early, since they make me feel sleepy all day.

As for the turning, I was fully aware I shouldn't have moved so much, it's just that for some reason I didn't feel comfortable. :blue:

I'll try some other relaxation techniques next time :) I'll also make some research of my own.

Besides, I'm getting into meditation to learn to quiet my mind and rid myself of racing thoughts, but it's no easy task...

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One suggestion I've read here on DV from Naiya I believe is writing a bit in your journal before bed, all the things you need to do tomorrow, so you can get them out of your mind's "goal center" so you can relax. Also, writing or saying "the best way for me to [help others/achieve my goals/etc] is to get a god night's sleep".

Diet, exercise, meditation, all good.

Yeah, that's why I wrote it down and it seemed to help :)

I had amazing recall today, 6 dreams in total, it's the best it's ever been. I recalled all of them in the morning, but not at the same time. One of the dreams was a layer 1 and in another one I became very suspicious and was almost lucid. I didn't use any technique in particular. I had set an alarm 5h into sleep and my first intention was to do a FILD, but I didn't feel sleepy enough. I thought maybe a SSILD would help me feel sleepy, but my mind kept wandering and I ended up not doing much of it.

Another successful WBTB+SSILD which turned into a lucid dream with a high level of awareness. It was brief, but it's another stepping stone. I feel I am making progress these last few weeks.

Brief flying lucid - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

My uni finals are getting near and I'm studying quite a lot these days. It was only half a year ago that I discovered how much this affected my sleep. The more I study during the day, the earlier I feel sleepy at night and the more sleep I need. This seems obvious, but I find it weird how I need a whole hour or two more of sleep in order to not feel sleepy the next day. I am a morning person, so at some point in the evening my brain just shuts down and I can't study, I need my night of rest, but thanks to this I don't mess around with my sleep cycle too much.

It still hasn't happened this time, but when I am approaching exams, I tend to have dreams about them. Well, they're nightmares most of the time. The good point is that I could use them as dream signs to become lucid if I trained myself to. Chances are these next weeks my progress with lucid dreaming will slow down, but if I am able to catch these dream signs or have a lucid every now and then thanks to some technique, that'd be great.

Best of luck on the exams Marta! :goodjob2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NyxCC

Best of luck on the exams Marta! :goodjob2:

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Thanks! I hope they go well :D

Despite the fact that these last couple of weeks my dream recall has decreased and I haven't worked much towards lucidity, today I had three lucids in a row and was able to maintain a high level of awareness during the transitions. I had never experienced that before, it was pretty amazing. Making good progress
:aphiusiscrazy:

Keeping lucidity during transitions - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Quote:

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Originally Posted by martakartus

Despite the fact that these last couple of weeks my dream recall has decreased and I haven't worked much towards lucidity, today I had three lucids in a row and was able to maintain a high level of awareness during the transitions. I had never experienced that before, it was pretty amazing. Making good progress
:aphiusiscrazy:

Keeping lucidity during transitions - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

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Very good! That illustrates that lucidity is not always a linear process, or that we don't understand it well enough!

You're right, dreams will never cease to amaze us ^^